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Social interaction and the management of Songhay socio-political change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Paul Stoller
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Kwaara banda daarey, hala ga kano, yeow s'a gar. The stranger (no matter how long he/she has lived in a town) will never possess the choicest fruit of the daarey tree behind the village.

The daarey tree (Ziziphus jujuba) is found in and around Songhay towns in the Republic of Niger. Since its sweet red fruit is coveted, the whereabouts of the finest daarey are never divulged to foreigners, lest they steal from the Songhay that which is most delicious in their communities. The proverb underscores just how careful the Songhay are in protecting from non-Songhay that which is their own. It also suggests that just as non-Songhay will never possess the choicest daarey fruits, so too they will neither marry the most beautiful Songhay maidens nor become influential in community affairs. The most beautiful maidens, like the best daarey trees, are kept from the sight of non-Songhay; the sociocultural knowledge which enables a person to be perceived as influential is never taught directly to those who have migrated to the lands of the Songhay.

Résumé

L'interaction sociale et les modalités du changement socio-politique chez les Songaïs

Le présent article passe en revue le rôle de l'interaction sociale et de son assise, l'entretien familier, dans les processus dynamiques qui transforment le cadre socio-politique des Songaïs. A l'époque coloniale et précoloniale, les descendants patrilinéaires du roi Songaï, Askia Mohammed Touré (1493-1528), étaient les chefs de la société Songaï. Faisant appel à tout une gamme de stratagèmes symboliques, parmi lesquels l'entretien familier (fakarey) est l'un des plus importants, ces fils d'Askia Mohammed (maiga, pluriel: maigey), ont tenté de maintenir leur influence à travers notre ère moderne en dépit de L'évolution technologique rapide dont les effets se font sentir de plus en plus dans la République du Niger. On suggère cependant ici que les maigey sont en train de perdre cette influence qui leur est chère au profit d'un groupe de négociants que ne sont pas tous d'origine Songaï. On suggère également qu'en raison de leur force économique, ces négociants qui ne sont pas d'appartenance Songaï, amènent d'importants changements socio-politiques en “manipulant” la signification des rencontres sociales publiques afin de satisfaire aux objectifs de leur politique ambitieuse.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , July 1981 , pp. 765 - 780
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1981

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